1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to object-oriented systems, and in particular to an interactive modeling agent for an object-oriented system.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of application and system software has traditionally been a time consuming task. Software engineering has attempted to overcome the limitations of traditional techniques by using new, more efficient programming techniques, such as object-oriented programming. Object-oriented programming has emerged as a method of programming computers that allows for rapid development, implementation, and customization of new software programs by using models to simulate the system prior to generating any software code. Object-oriented programming is also made more "user friendly" by using graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to assist in the modeling portion of the program development.
Object-oriented programming alone, however, is not the complete solution to software development limitations on time, effort, and efficiency. The use of object-oriented programming is in itself difficult, and requires knowledge of the object-oriented programming languages, tools, modeling, and programming techniques to produce working object-oriented code. Currently, object-oriented programming languages rely on cumbersome manuals and user experience to make object-oriented programming a more efficient and cost-effective tool for programming. The manuals are not real time or efficient aids for the novice or advanced object-oriented user for use in creating object-oriented programs.
It can be seen then, that there is a need for additional tools to assist in creating object-oriented programs. It can also be seen then that real-time interaction between the user and the computer will assist in creating object-oriented programs.